Getting Board

In this episode of The Speakeasier, we chat with the glorious Asma Shah, founder and CEO of empowerment organisation You Make It, and advisor on the Mayor of London's Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion board. Asma is open about her experience of the negative effects of gentrification, solitude within her industry and first-hand racism. Now, she’s empowering young women to thrive in the working environment and showing others how to push back against racism, whatever form it takes. If you’re wondering how to put action against racism, this one is definitely worth a listen.

In episode 12 we talk to Sulaiman Khan, founder and Chief Purpose Officer at ThisAbility, a disability-led equity business that aims to change workplace culture by destabilising the accepted narratives of creativity and disability. We discuss how disabled people are inherently creative given they “hack” life everyday to overcome physical, social and attitudinal barriers. Sulaiman also offers practical advice to non-disabled people to facilitate creating connections with those with disabilities both in business and in life.

In episode 11 of The Speakeasier, we talk to Mursal Saiq, Founder and Director of Cue Point London, an inclusive barbecue catering company influenced by her Afghan background and her experiences growing up in London. Mursal discusses the power of food in creating spaces that can be shared by everyone, regardless of their identity, and the positive impact these shared spaces can create in society.

We talk to Jasvir Singh, co-founder of South Asian Heritage Month. From July 18th to August 17th, ‘SAHM’ is about celebration, commemoration and education of all things South Asian. 2020 marks its first year, and we speak to Jasvir about how the month came to be, and what he hopes it will do for South Asians both in South Asia, and the diaspora.

Jasvir is a qualified barrister in his day job, and sits on the leadership teams of a number of community organisations such as the Faiths Forum and City Sikhs.

In this week’s episode of The Speakeasier we talk to comedienne, BBC radio presenter and TV host, Judi Love. We discuss comedy’s place in the serious global troubles we face today, whether it can help heal cultural divides, examine the role it can play in helping tackle challenging societal issues, and how it can put a different spotlight on political debate.

With a current body of work that includes Celebrity Masterchef, Quarantine Date Night, Loose Women and BBC Radio London, Judi discusses the diversity of her audiences and together we discuss how she is fast becoming the embodiment of inclusivity for her fans.

In this episode of The Speakeasier we talk to Sheldon Mills, Interim Executive Director of Strategy and Competition at FCA and chair of Stonewall UK. Sheldon charts his journey from school to the boardroom, explaining the roles both family members and senior colleagues played in shaping and preparing him for leadership.

The conversations compares the progress of LGBT and Black communities in the workplace, explores whether businesses are looking hard enough to find Black talent, and explains the importance of nurturing leaders based on their own specific cultural needs.

In this week’s episode of The Speakeasier we speak to Elliott Rae about navigating race in the workplace. Elliott is the the founder of musicfootballfatherhood.com and the head of ‘Project Race’ - a UK government initiative that has been setup to improve the representation, performance outcomes and engagement of Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) colleagues.

Elliott discusses the professional and personal impact of George Floyd’s murder and the prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has led to him hosting 101 'Let's Talk Race: inclusion workshops' within his workplace. He also addresses the stereotyping Black fathers face and talks to us about why he set up a website that has been dubbed “the dads’ version of Mumsnet” by the BBC.

‘What is unconscious bias?’ - there’s been a spike in people Googling this question. We think the answer lies with our latest guest, Pragya Agarwal, author of Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias. As the Black Lives Matter movement has changed how we see ourselves and others, she helps us understand what bias is, and how it plays out in business, society…and ice cream choices.

Less than a month ago, a Black man in Minneapolis spoke his last words as he was murdered: “I can’t breathe.”

Since that day, many of us have begun to question whose voices we should really be listening to right now.

Two weeks ago, we were struck by a compelling new voice on the radio - a caller speaking out about racial issues during talk show host Iain Dale’s show on LBC. Denise Headley challenged the white, male prism of British media, gave her views on the industry’s lack of diversity, and offered herself up as its new voice.

We got straight on the case and invited her to come and be heard on The Speakeasier. Determined to continue to make diversity everyone’s business, we also asked Iain to rejoin the conversation.

In this episode, we bring together icons of the airwaves, old and new, in a lively discussion about race, politics, history and identity. Oh, and let’s not forget about the statues.

This episode takes us deep into the world of diversity and inclusion with a guest who has way more experience than most. Jan Gooding was formerly chair at Stonewall and held the position of Director of Inclusion at insurance brand Aviva before most people knew their D from their I.

Jan talks to us about the role of brands in Pride, how Black Lives Matters rallies have given the physical manifestations of Pride protests a temporary home during lockdown, and how focusing on inclusion rather than diversity may help to keep some people more engaged in the conversation.